Toys & Games

I'm a big fan of open-ended play and evergreen toys -- toys that our kids play with religiously, independently of their age. This year for Christmas, we've added a few toys that I feel belong to the list we created a while ago: both pretty, natural and great toys that our kids all love playing ...

Because of the amount of toys of all kinds on the market today it’s pretty hard to get excited over the new ones. I remember just eight years ago when I had my first daughter everything was different. The variety was a lot narrower. So what I try to do now is find and accept ...

I have an (almost unhealthy) obsession with wood. Sometimes I try to imagine the most impossible things made of wood. A couple of months ago we were in a toy museum in Nürmberg in Germany and I saw an old doll from Haba made of wood, so the first thing I did when I got ...

The seasonal table, and felt ornaments from Crafspring. For decoration or play!

We love having a seasonal table set up in our house. We gather finds from nature, and we display them together with some sweet felt or wooden artefacts. I have boxes in storage marked 'Autumn', 'Halloween', 'Christmas', etc. -- and it's such a fun event every season, to rediscover what's inside and create a new ...

Our annual holiday gift guides are now live and bursting with inspiration for the upcoming holidays!! We've rounded up 36 different gift ideas for each category: boys, girls, babies and stocking fillers. You'll find everything from crafty to cosy, sporty to stylish with lots of great toys, books, clothes and accessories. Hop over to our ...

I've been a fan of Merrilee Liddiard for a long time now. She is the creative mind behind the wonderful Mer Mag blog, a great source of inspiring and always-beautiful craft ideas. She is also the author of 'Playful: Fun Projects to Make With + For Kids', which again offers a whole host of unique craft ...

We had an awesome holiday this summer -- simple, refreshing and surrounded by good friends. It has been a hectic year, so it was especially wonderful for the whole family to be able to sleep for hours and never get out of our pyjamas. Our batteries have been recharged! We tried out new recipes, sat ...

Norman & Jules is a toy and accessories shop in the old-fashioned kind of way. It's the sort of place where you lose track of time when you're discovering all of the most wonderful toys and imaginative finds. You will find intriguing science kits, amazingly cool musical instruments, a want-able collection of cards, stamps and ...

Heather, a mum of two and the founder of Noc Noc Wooden Toys recently got in touch to say hello and introduce me to her brand. She's a local mum, living just twenty minutes from me! (I continue to be blown away by the amount of creativity and talent that comes out of this area. Remember ...

We love games (read our earlier post on favourite family games)! And since it is the season of travelling, we've rounded up seventeen of our team's favourite travel games. Travel games have to tick a few boxes for us -- they need to be lightweight, but worthy of making 'the cut' in suitcases which are short on ...

Last week we were camping at the seaside, and the kids and I were playing around with some products the recently launched company Lil'Ollo had sent us: beautifully designed games, posters and flash cards, all aimed at introducing a second language to children at a young age and in a playful, creative and imaginative way. ...

Last week, during a lazy afternoon in St James' park, the kids and I came up with a game to while away some time in the sunshine - we're calling it the Nature Hunt Memory Game. I actually remember playing something very similar to this at Brownies when I was younger and I'm sure it's ...

While on holiday last month, we received the most exciting parcel in the mail. On the box, it said 'LIVE INSECTS, OPEN IMMEDIATELY!’ And sparked a lot of curiosity and excitement. We opened up the box, a gift sent from our very clever friends, and inside was a cup of caterpillars waiting to become butterflies! ...

Games are one of the best ways to put aside all the distractions of modern day life, and just have some fun together as a family... and perhaps even get a bit competitive! :) We have chosen these games because most of them can be played from three years old, which means everyone can join in and bond ...

At Babyccino we are big fans of toys that inspire free play, provide room for creativity and support emotional development. Of those toys that leave room for the magic… Ciao Bimba make beautiful Waldorf-style, all-natural dolls that are all of this and more. The mamas behind this collection have a sweet but meaningful story to ...

We received these colourful blocks from a thoughtful friend as a recent birthday gift, and they are really fun to play with! Normally I prefer toys in neutral colours and natural materials, but sometimes it is refreshing to mix it up, and a friend with a good eye for design and style is a ...

We met the lovely Allie at our last ShopUp event in Brooklyn, NY and we fell head over heels in love with her beautiful toy shop Rose & Rex. The shop offers the most elegant toys, all carefully selected not only for their heirloom qualities and sustainable, toxic free materials, but mostly to promote imaginative play and encourage the development of skill building, ...

Rose & Rex is full to the brim with the type of toys we love! Beautiful items that bring out the creativity in our children – toys that can be played with in different ways every day, by all ages, for years on end. Almost as much fun as the toys she sells, is founder ...

A few months ago, here in a cute shop in my little town, I discovered the beautiful, natural wooden blocks set by Polish company Wooden Story. These blocks, like all of the wooden toys by Wooden Story, are hand made in the Beskidy Mountains of Poland from environmentally sourced wood. Beeswax and botanical oils give ...

Here in Amsterdam, we have a little shop I love. It is called De Zaailing, and it sells all sorts of beautiful and natural toys, clothes, crafting materials and books. On the counter, they keep a wicker basket full of the most beautiful little felt fairies -- perfect little presents for birthdays, or just because. My ...

Over the summer my children received this cool wooden ninja construction kit, available from one of my favourite toys & crafts shops, Conscious Craft. It was a curious little package -- a box full of wooden construction pieces, steel bolts, and allen keys. Thankfully a clear instruction leaflet was included, or otherwise we would have been lost. Because DIY kits ...

Building blocks are perhaps the most basic and classic toy existing. It's also the one toy I feel every child should own -- a couple of blocks not only makes a great tower, but it also makes structures, houses and fences for all sorts of pretend play. US based toy company Hape recently came out with a set of ...

It's the time of year to think about stocking stuffers! Even though we don't traditionally hang stockings in the Netherlands, I have happily adopted the custom after living in the US and the UK. I remember sitting at our table in London and sewing our stockings from fabric remnant I had cheaply gotten at the John Lewis curtain department ...